    For more info on this and very helpful tips:
    http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
    http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html

Similar Messages

What is stored in the other category for space?

I am showing a lot of space consumed under the other category when using iTunes. What is consuming all this space?

Hello ih82work
Other is comprised of Settings, Siri voices, and other system data is what is typically stored there. Also keep in mind that it may have data that may have been partially download or synced across of iTunes and potentially interrupted.
Understanding iOS device capacity
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1867
iOS: "Not enough free space" alert when trying to sync
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1503
Regards,
-Norm G.

Why is the "other" category for capacity so big?

My 3rd generation nano has a a really large "other" category for capacity. What is filling this up? What can I do to lower it?

Read this
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4542883?start=0&tstart=0

Macbook Pro Storage is nothing but 'Other'

My macbook pro (version 10.7.5) is almost completely full and as it keeps reminding me my startup disk is full which causes everything to run painfully slow at times. I am very keen to clean up and so need to know what is taking up the most space, however when I try and view my storage use in 'about my mac' it shows; audio - zero KB, movies -zero KB, photos- zero KB, apps - zero KB, backups - zero KB and then 'Other' is shown to use 318.75 GB. it is very annoying because i need to figure out what to delete.
I'd really appreciate any help i can get
cheers, Joakim

I suspect, however, upon looking at your free space, the computer is booting into safe mode because there is not enough space on the startup volume to boot normally. You need atleast 8GB of free space to boot OSX. You should have 15% of your HD space free at all times. Free up 20 GB of space. Unload large media file or archivable documents onto an external storage device or cloud based service if need be (note, you will have to delete these documents for your hardrive after unloading them, since they are automatically copied , not moved to external storage).

Macbook Pro storage filled completely by other

I've been getting the message that my Start Up Disk Is Full. So I went to About This Mac > More Info > Storage and noticed the following:
How is the possible I know I only have about 200GB of information on this computer?
How do I fix this?
Im running Mac OS X Lion software.

“Other” Storage
A commonly asked question is what is included in the "Other” storage category reported in the About This Mac Storage display. Other includes everything that is not audio, movies, photos, apps and backups. In other words it includes the OS, mail, documents... See http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html and What is "Other" and What Can I Do About It? and Apple Support Communities https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5142
Recovering Disk Space
If you have less than 10 GB you definitely need to delete or offload some files or purchase a lager disk or SSD (see below). You may want to maintain at least 20 GB of free space so when your disk starts filling again it will have some room before it hits that 10 GB mark again. More headroom is better. If you let the space fall much below 9 GB you might not be able to boot your machine.
Initial easy steps to gain disk space:
- Delete all files in the Downloads folder.
Empty the Trash.
- Start iPhoto.
Empty its trash.
Restart.
- Restart in Safe Mode:
Restart the computer.
As soon as you hear the chime press and hold down the right shift key.
Be patient. Hold it down until you see the Apple icon.
Empty the trash.
Restart in normal mode.
- Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Hold the option key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.
    Select "Library" from the drop down menu.
    Library > Mail > V2 > Mailboxes
    Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
- Empty the Trash.
- Restart.
- Re-index your system disk (Macintosh HD):
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409
Backup:
Run a Time Machine (or other) backup since you are about to delete and move files and you may need to recover from any inadvertent mistakes or decisions. You will need one external hard drive for your Time Machine (or other) backup and a second if you plan to offload some files. (See suggestions for where to purchase hard drives at the end of this message.)
For more about backups:
Time Machine Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Most commonly used backup methods:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031
Deleting files:
Then use the free application OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more to explore your volume in descending order by size so you can attack the problem from the top down, deleting the largest unwanted files first. Delete with caution and do not delete any system files. Do not rely on restoring files from Time Machine; delete only those files you never want to see again. Remember to empty the trash after trashing the files.
Additional references on freeing disk space:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html
Offloading files:
Consider moving some of the no-often-used large files or directories to an external disk. Use ODS again to find them. As noted above this will be at least your second hard drive. Your first one(s) is/are for your Time Machine (or other) backup(s). Do not offload files onto a Time Machine disk.
Format the second drive as Mac OS Extended (journaled). Using OWS to find large files/folders and copy them from the system drive to the external hard drive and delete them from your internal drive.
Then  > System Preferences > Time Machine > Options… > Remove the offload HD name from the exclusions list.
Now both your system disk and your external offload disk will be backed up onto your Time Machine disk.
From: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html
To move your iTunes Music folder to another disk or partition:
To change the location of your iTunes Music folder, carefully follow the instructions in the AppleCare® Knowledge Base document "iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder."Additional information can be found in iTunes Help.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.thexlab.com/105/ 00000849.html
Laptop users may want to consider having two iTunes libraries: a small library of current favorites on their computer, while their complete library resides on an external hard drive. Utilities like iTunes Library Manager enable you to easily have multiple iTunes libraries you can use with your account. https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7689/itunes-library-manager
To move your iPhoto Library folder to another disk or partition:
To move the iPhoto Library folder to a new location, employ the instructions in the AppleCare Knowledge Base document from http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506 corresponding to the version of iPhoto you are using. Additional information can be found in iPhoto Help.
Laptop users may want to consider having two iPhoto libraries: a small library of current, favorite photographs on their computer, while their complete library, or archives of older photos are saved on an external hard drive. Utilities such as iPhoto Buddy and iPhoto Library Manager enable you to have multiple iPhoto libraries that you can use with your account.
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/12175/iphoto-buddy
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7158/iphoto-library-manager
Hardware — Bigger disk/SSD:
If your system has upgradeable storage then if you are still tight on disk space consider larger storage. If you have a disk consider replacing it with a one TB disk. Check out an upgrade to an SSD-Hybrid disk. Google "Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive SATA 6Gbps 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch". If you have an SSD consider increasing its capacity to 240 or 480 GB. A standard 240 GB SSD would cost from $200 to $280. See OWC and Crucial: http://www.crucial.com/ for options. OWC sells 120, 240 and 480 GB SSD upgrades for MacBook Airs. A 240 GB upgrade costs $265.   http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/ . If your Mac is under warranty or AppleCare replacing the SSD will void the warranty.
For backups and offloading data to an external drive, PlotinusVeritas gives some great suggestions for purchasing external hard drives in this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5602141?tstart=0

New MacBook Pro - Storage in "About this Mac"

I just got a new MacBook Pro (256 GB storage) and set it up as a new computer (rather than migrating from previous computer). I am curious about the amounts showing up in the Storage tab of About this Mac. Here's my current allocation:
Apps: 11 GB
Other: 7 GB
Audio: 1 GB
Photos: 900 MB
Movies: 400 MB
I'm most interested in Audio, Photos and Movies since I haven't added any to the device nor have I synced with iCloud. Perhaps they are files that are pre-loaded on the OS?
Does this look normal for a right out-of-the box MacBook Pro?

Parts of OS X.

What is the best program for cleaning MacBook Pro?, What is the best program for cleaning MacBook Pro?

What is the best free program to clean MacBook Pro? One I can set for automatic clean-up

Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible. Drive Genius provides additional tools not found in Disk Warrior. Versions 1.5.1 and later are Intel Mac compatible. An outstanding source of information is OS X Maintenance - MacAttorney.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.)
If you are using a pre-Leopard version of OS X, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced since Tiger. (These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion and should not be installed.)
OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems. For more about malware see Macintosh Virus Guide.
I would also recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX 2.4.3, or Cocktail 5.1.1 that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the command line. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. (There is no confirmation that this version also works with Lion or later.)
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Data Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. SyncTwoFolders
6. Synk Pro
7. Synk Standard
8. Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Always have a current backup before performing any system updates or upgrades.
Additional suggestions will be found in:
      1. Mac Maintenance Quick Assist,
      2. Mac OS X speed FAQ,
      3. Speeding up Macs,
      4. Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance,
      5. Essential Mac Maintenance: Get set up,
      6. Essential Mac Maintenance: Rev up your routines,
      7. Maintaining OS X,
      8. Five Mac maintenance myths,
      9. How to Speed up Macs, and
    10. Myths of required versus not required maintenance for Mac OS X.
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.
Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity or 20 GBs, whichever is greater, as free space.

I just bought a Macbook Pro do I get the iWork update for free?

I bought my Macbook Pro on Monday (7/23/12) and now 2 days later they have come out with Mountain Lion and iWork update. I know I get the Mountain Lion update for free but do I also get the iWork update for free. If so, how?

If your system is only 2 days old, you may have the most recent version of iWork. Just run Software Update to be sure.
Jerry

Macbook pro 15 inch crashes every other day for no reason, how can i resolve this issue

my macbook pro is connected to an external monitor and i use apple key board and magic mouse. for the past few weeks, it has been crashing almost continously (at least once or twice a week) and i have to restart the computer. this has never happened before and i haven't added any new software to it that i may think can cause the problem.
what can i do to check on this and how can i fix it.
thanks

By crash do you mean there is a four language screen asking you to restart?
If not, then that really isn't a crash, and you need to learn how to break out of the issue in question.
If it is, then what you are witnessing is a kernel panic*:
http://www.macmaps.com/kernelpanic.html
Your Console application will have System log files which may indicate what application or driver was trying to launch at the time of the panic.
The non-kernel panic pseudo crashes come in a variety of flavors:
1. Spinning colorwheel as a result of a single hung application.   Try command-option-escape to bring the force quit window to force quit the offending application which usually will be highlighted in red. Select it, and click force quit. Your data will not be saved from the saved app, but it does say the application in question may have run out of disk space*:
http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html
Or is incompatible with some driver or operating system data on your machine.
2. Spinning colorwheel as a result of a system optimizer. Don't trust any application that cleans system cache. Doesn't matter if it is browser cache, but system cache should be only fixed in troubleshooting situations, on
backed up systems*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
3. Spinning colorwheel as a result of a driver issue.   If the driver in question hasn't been tested with the operating system, it may fail to work when certain peripherals are connected.
4. Frozen mouse pointer with same symptoms as 1,2,3.
5. Splotched pattern under mouse pointer.   Generally means a hardware issue with the graphics chip.
6. Unexpectedly quitting applications or frozen applications as a result of no kernel panic nor compatibility issue. Thsoe may happen if they run into bad RAM without panicking*:
http://www.macmaps.com/badram.html

My week old MacBook w/ retina has half of its storage taken up by the "other" category. I don't have any downloads or backups. How can I get rid of it?

I now no longer have any storage and it is only 1 week old!!

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the Storage display seems to be inaccurate, try rebuilding the Spotlight index.
Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then restart the computer. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
Install the app you downloaded in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator. Ignore any other messages that appear in the Terminal window.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

What is the "Other" category under storage and how can i delete items from this?

My disc is almost full. "About this Mac" says that I have 47 GB of "Other." What is this Other and how can I delete items from this?

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article.
Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown asBackups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Reboot and it should go away.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size with the largest at the top. It may take a few minutes for ODS to finish scanning.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

My iSight is not working on my Macbook Pro. What are the possible problems and solutions?

My iSight is not working on my Macbook Pro. What are the possible problems and solutions?

Hello Douglas,
Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing with the built-in iSight camera on your MacBook Pro. I recommend the following steps for this issue:
Important: Follow these instructions in order. Test the camera between steps to see if the issue is resolved.
Built-in iSight cameras
These steps are for iSight cameras that are built into a computer, such as the iMac G5 (iSight) or later, the MacBook, or MacBook Pro.
See if the issue is application-specific.
Try another application (iSight works with applications like iChat, PhotoBooth, and iMovie HD 6) to see if the iSight camera exhibits the same behavior in all applications. If it only happens in one application, try reinstalling that application.
See if the issue is user-specific.
Test your iSight camera in another user account. If the issue only occurs in one user, the issue would be isolated to user settings.
Find out if the computer recognizes the iSight
Check System Profiler (in the Utilities folder, inside the Applications folder). Under the USB header, check to see if the iSight camera is detected.
Reset SMC or PMU
Reset your computer's SMC or PMU, and then check System Profiler again. (SMC reset instructions for iMac G5 (iSight), Intel-based iMacs; PMU reset instructions for MacBook and MacBook Pro.)
If your built-in iSight camera is still not behaving correctly after trying all these steps, you may need to contact Apple or an Apple-Authorized Service Provider for service.
You can find the full article here:
How to Troubleshoot iSight
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2090
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

When I look at the storage on my Mac under about this Mac, what is included in the "other" category?

When I look at the storage on my Mac under about this Mac, what is included in the "other" category?

Hi, just about everything else...
OmniDiskSweeper is likely the easiest/best, and is now free...
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/download/
And if needed, you can use Terminal to run it in admin mode to see files/folders your user can't see...
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/how_to_recover_missing_hard_drive_space/

My phone keeps saying I am running low on storage space. Over half of the contents in it is in the "other" category. what does that include? I wish to have more music

I have a 16GB iphone but am an avid music lover. I own tons of music. I have iMatch and iCloud. As of right now my phone says I only use about half of the storage space on it in audio. Very litle is used for apps or pictures. I have another half of the storage space in a category called "Other". What is in that category? I would really like to add more music however my storage keeps stating I am almost full and need to manage. I would delete things if I thought it would make more room but it seems to take very little room off when I remove apps and pictures and does not really affect the other category. Someone please help describe what is in that category and how I can change add more room. Thank you!

This indicates corrupt files.
A restore should resolve.

Macbook Air's hard drive full with files under the 'other' category - how do I find these files and delete them?

A few days ago a pop up message came up on my screen saying that my hard drive was full, and that I could not install valuable updates because I did not have enough space on my computer. I checked my computer's storage space only to find that 18.22GB of my hard drive was filled with files/programs under the 'other' category. I have deleted all my downloads, most of my pictures and have done virus scans and I still don't have enough room. How do I find out what is in this 'other' category so that I can delete these files (which seem to be hidden) or whatever they may be?

1. Empty Trash.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
2. Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Hold the option key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.
    Select "Library" from the dropdown.
    Library > Mail > V2 > Mailboxes
    Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Empty Trash. Restart.
3. Repair Disk
    Steps 1 through 7
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
4. For info about "Other":
    http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
    http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html
Best.

MacBook Pro - Storage Q about the "Other" category for GB

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